Winter Park lifts request for residents to conserve water

Winter Park says residents no longer have to make efforts to conserve their water due to a crisis caused by increased COVID-19 hospitalizations over the summer.

As coronavirus cases decline, officials say the request can now be lifted. Liquid oxygen is an essential component of the ozone gas used by the department to purify the water. Liquid oxygen is also a critical component used by hospitals to treat COVID patients.

"Working cooperatively with our customers and suppliers, we were able to keep liquid oxygen levels at our water treatment plants at a sufficient level to avoid boil-water alerts during the surge," City Manager Randy Knight said. "We appreciate our customers doing what they could to help us manage the impact of the pandemic at an individual and greater level."

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In August, the City of Winter Park Water & Wastewater Utilities Department joined the Orlando Utilities Commission in asking its customers to temporarily conserve water due to the shortage of liquid oxygen experienced by the surge of COVID-19 treatments.